Guitared
by StanaPagetFillion
Summary: A body is found with the same MO as a previously solved case by the BAU team from the FBI of Criminal Minds. The team is brought in to assist Detective Beckett of Castle and her team on this case. What happens when Det. Beckett has the FBI that she gets really annoyed with, on her back? Or will Hotchner's team actually gain her trust? - This is a whole murder case that I created.
1. Chapter 1 : The Case

**A/N : This story takes place sometime in Season 3 before the finale since I included Captain Montgomery. There may or may not be a little interest between two characters from each team. ;) Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

***At the 12th Precinct, New York***

Richard Castle walks into the precinct holding a takeout of two coffees and sees Kate Beckett sitting at her desk staring into space.

"Thinking about me?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Beckett smiles back sarcastically as he hands her a cup of coffee.

"So what case do we have this time?'

"We don't—"Just then, Beckett's phone rings.

"We do now" Castle smiles.

"Beckett. Mmhmm. We'll be right there" She puts down her phone and takes her badge and gun from the drawer, " We got a body at an apartment in Oak Street."

* * *

***At the Behavourial Analysis Unit, Quantico, Virginia***

Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia walks past SSA Jennifer 'JJ' Jareau and SSA Emily Prentiss who is busy talking and SSA Spencer Reid who is sitting at his desk reading.

"My fellow crusaders, we have a case" Garcia says as she walks towards the round table room. JJ, Prentiss and Reid gets up and follow.

In the round table room, SSA Aaron Hotcher, SSA Derek Morgan and SSA David Rossi are already seated at the table.

"Alright, we have a dead body in New York City. His name is Elliot McCoy, 28" Garcia says as she switches on the screen revealing the crime scene photos.

"I remember this MO" Morgan says "It was 3 years ago. We caught the killer, I booked him myself."

"Yes, and that is why we are asked to assist the NYPD in this case." Hotchner says. "Wheels up in 30."

* * *

***At the crime scene***

Castle and Beckett walks into the apartment and sees the place messed up.

"Someone was looking for something." Beckett says.

They walked into the living room and sees the body of a young man with an acoustic guitar smashed on his head and left at his neck, sitting on the couch.

"Woah. This gives a new meaning to rock 'n' roll" Castle says in awe.

"Rock on, he shall" Javier Esposito says as he walks in.

"What do we have on this guy?" Beckett asks.

"Vic's name is Elliot McCoy, 28. He's a part time musician at the local bar downstairs. The landlady confirmed it." Esposito answered.

"Lives by the guitar, dies by the guitar." Castle adds. Beckett raises her eyebrow.

Beckett turns to Lanie Parish who is examining the body, "Cause of death?"

Lanie was about to answer her but Castle interrupts, " A heavy blow to the head."

"It looks like it for now." Lanie says "But I can't be sure until I fully examine the body."

Just then, Beckett looks up to see a group of people who look like the feds approaching the apartment.

"The suits are here" Castle comments. Beckett walks towards them.

"Agent Hotchner from the BAU department of FBI" Hotch introduces himself, showing his badge.

"And just why is the FBI at my crime scene?" Beckett asks

"I called them" a voice answers.


	2. Chapter 2 : The MeetUp

Beckett turns around, "Captain?"

"Yes, thank you for coming down so quickly, Agent Hotchner. I'm Captain Montgomery. We spoke on the phone" Captain Roy Montgomery says as he shook Hotch's hand

"Of course. We heard about the case and immediately came down" Hotch replied.

Beckett, Castle and Esposito looked confused. By this time, Kevin Ryan had joined them looking equally confused.

"Detective Beckett, meet Agent Hotchner and his team from the FBI. This case has a similar MO to a case they once solved before and I called them to assist us in catching this killer" Montgomery explains

"But Captain, I—"

"I hope you work well together to find this killer" Montgomery cuts her off before walking away, leaving Beckett feeling a bit annoyed.

"This is still my case, Agent" Beckett turns to Hotch

"Yes, I know. We are only here to assist you in this case based on what we know from the previous murders" Hotch answers. "This is my team. Agent Jareau, Morgan, Prentiss, Reid and Rossi" He points to his team right behind him, watching the drama unfold.

Beckett loosens up a little and was going to say something when Castle, again interrupts, "Rossi? As in _the_ David Rossi?"

Rossi looks up "Yes, that's me"

"Wow I read your book on hostage negotiation. That's some good stuff!" Castle says excitedly.

"Well, thank you" Rossi smiles as Beckett looks on curiously

"I'm Richard Castle by the way" Castle says as he shakes Rossi's hand.

"Writer meets writer huh?" Esposito whispered to Ryan. Ryan chuckled.

"Castle? Sounds very familiar…" Rossi says

"Richard Castle. The author of the Nikki Heat series. I've read all your novels" Spencer Reid says.

"Ah yes! That's right."Rossi says

" You know me?" Castle turns to Reid.

"He knows everything. Isn't that the book where Heat is based on a real detective?" Prentiss joins in.

"She's right here" Esposito points to Beckett, looking a bit embarrassed.

"I'm Detective Beckett and these are Detective Esposito, Detective Ryan and…you already know Castle" Beckett changes the topic.

"Castle, I did not know you were a cop too" Rossi says

"He isn't. He helps the team with cases for research on his novels" Reid replies.

Beckett, Castle, Esposito and Ryan turns to Reid, looking somewhat shocked and impressed.

"Like I said, he knows everything" Prentiss adds

"Actually, I don't exactly know everything." Reid says.

"Alright guys, let's get back to the case. Got a murderer to catch" Morgan interrupts.

Beckett briefs everyone on what she had found earlier.

"So are we looking at a copycat?" Beckett asks.

"I'm not quite sure if this a copycat" Morgan said. "The guy we caught, Tyler Moore, he doesn't mess up the place. This unsub, he's looking for something"

"Unsub?" Castle asks.

"Unknown subject. That's what we call our unidentified criminal" Hotchner explains

"Hmm…unsub. I like that" Castle proceeds to type it in his phone as a note.

"Yo Beckett! I got something here." Esposito shouts. Esposito holds up a planner. "Our vic had a meeting yesterday evening with someone named at this address"

"That's two blocks away from here. Espo and Ryan, you run that name and address. Castle and I will go there with Agent Hotchner's team" Beckett says.

"We might be able to help you with that" Morgan pulls out his cellphone and speed dialed Garcia. "Hey babygirl, you're on speaker phone with the NYPD"

"Did he just call her.." Castle turns to Ryan

"Hello there, detectives! How may I be at your service?" Garcia chirps into the phone.

"Could you run down the name "C. Smith' in town?" Morgan says

"Honey, you wouldn't want to know the number of C. Smith's there are in New York City. You gotta give me something to work with"

"Try within a five block radius of the crime scene" Prentiss adds

"Alright. I have 7 names."

"The amount of force needed to break that guitar on someone's head indicates a male, at least 200 pounds" Reid adds

"Oh! We have a winner. Connor Smith, 25 and he lives in the apartment just opposite your crime scene. I'm sending you the address and his profile to your phones as we speak."

"Thank you, Garcia." Morgan says.

"No problemo!" Garcia hangs up the phone.

Beckett, Castle, Esposito and Ryan looks blankly at them.

"We should have someone working for us like that." Ryan says, breaking the silence.

"That is so cool!" Castle says

"Alright, Prentiss and Reid will go the mortuary for the autopsy, Morgan and I will follow Detective Beckett to the address," Hotchner orders, then turns to Beckett and say "We will need to be setting up back at the office."

"Of course, Detectives Esposito and Ryan will lead you back to the precinct" Beckett answers

"JJ and Rossi, you will follow the detectives back then" Hotchner continues.

The BAU team nods and everyone goes off to their respective duties.

Just as they were all leaving, Esposito leans in towards Ryan and whispers "It's like we're not even needed."


	3. Chapter 3 : The Investigation Starts

***At Connor Smith's apartment***

Beckett, Castle, Hotch and Morgan walk towards apartment unit 305 and upon reaching the front door, Beckett knocks three times, "Connor Smith, NYPD!". Not a sound was heard. Morgan nods towards the landlord who came with them to unlock the door. Both agents and detective hustled in quietly with their guns up in front while Castle trailed behind, hoping for some kickbutt action to unfold. Those hopes were crushed when all three shouted out "CLEAR!" after checking the place out.

Morgan picks up a few unread letters near the door while Beckett examines the bedroom. Castle took an interest in the collection of music books lined up nicely on a shelf, then walks to the bedroom where Beckett is. "Theory, majors and arpeggios…Never liked it," Castle says.

"You play an instrument?" Beckett asks with an interest.

"If you count jabbing at few piano keys when I was ten, then yes" Castle shrugs. "Too many things to memorize. What about you? Ever picked up anything? Or tried to?"

"Not really…" Beckett answered, but that wasn't exactly true. She had a guitar lying at home which she strums along when she felt like it. No way, was she going to let Castle know that.

"So…how are you holding up with the big boys coming over on this case?" Castle asks in a hushed tone.

"I can handle this case without them," Beckett answered in an annoyed voice. "I don't get why the Captain had to bring them in,"

"Well, you heard them. We could be facing a serial killer. And they've worked this case before. Could be some help," Castle said.

"Whose side are you on now, Castle?" Beckett raises her eyebrow. "You're just waiting for them to bring out their latest and cool toys,"

Castle grins. She knows him too well. "I wonder what they have. That woman on the phone sounds cool. All that information in one phone call!"

"Want me to get them to introduce you to her then?" Beckett teased. "I just hope they got the message that I'm the boss here. And just cause they're trained profilers, it doesn't give them any edge" Beckett said, clearly not amused by their presence.

Just then, a young lad dressed in t-shirt and ragged jeans walked in, "Whoa…what happened here?"

Morgan and Hotch, who were near the door immediately pulled their guns out and pointed it at the lad. "Connor Smith?" Morgan asks, eyeing the lad.

"Whoa! Don't shoot! Yes, yes, that's me, Connor Smith," the lad said, in a shock, dropping a bag he was holding earlier.

Beckett and Castle hustled out on hearing the commotion, just in time to hear Connor identify himself. "Connor Smith, I'm Detective Beckett, NYPD. You need to come down to the precinct with us, we got a few questions for you," Beckett said, showing her badge.

* * *

***At the morgue***

Prentiss and Reid walk through the doors of the mortuary, a gush of strong disinfectant smell greeted them. "Dr. Parish?" Prentiss asks the nearest person.

"That's me," Lanie said from the other side they weren't looking.

"Dr. Parish, I'm Agent Prentiss and this is Dr. Reid. We're here for the body this morning," Prentiss introduces.

"Of course, it's over here," Lanie walks over to the body of Elliot McCoy. "Cause of death is not confirmed yet. There are two possible COD's as of now. Blunt force trauma to the head," Lanie shows the wound on top of the head.

"What is the other cause?" Reid asks, scrunching his eyebrows.

"I found a needle mark here," Lanie said, showing them the inner part of his right elbow. "I've sent for a tox screening. Should take a couple of hours."

"Could it be that he was using?" Prentiss asks.

"It is a possibility, or he could have been poisoned," Lanie said.

"Poisoned? It is not the same MO as the Moore case. We could be looking at a copycat or a fan," Reid said.

"What I can tell you is that, he was injected about 2 to 3 hours before his death," Lanie adds.

"So he could be poisoned, then came the big blow to the head," Prentiss concludes. "Doctor, I've been meaning to ask someone," Prentiss turns to Lanie, suddenly changing the topic and speaking softer, "Is…Detective Beckett and Castle…? I mean, I've read about some stuff here and there…"

Lanie smiles and say, "Oh that's what I've asking since the day he first came in…"


	4. Chapter 4 : The Interrogation

***Back at the precinct***

Esposito and Ryan are at their tables, working through some evidence and following some leads. JJ and Rossi are nearby. They have already added another board next to the murder board used by Beckett's team and used an empty table to set up some laptops to connect to Garcia. JJ picks up a couple of crime scene photos and pinned them up on their 'murder board'. From afar, both boards looked pretty much alike. Same photos, same names written and almost similar notes jotted. Look closer and you would find that the only difference was that the murder board by the BAU team had profiling notes. Something that the BAU team are really good at. They would gather enough evidence to create a profile for their unsub (unknown subject) before they can even know his or her name. Certainly, one of the best teams in the FBI.

"So, Agent Rossi, what is it like working with the feds? With all that constant travelling," Esposito asks, all of a sudden.

Rossi took a moment to think before answering, "It's definitely tiring but it makes it worth the while when we solve a tough case. And we do get sent to some of the most disturbing and emotional cases in around the country."

"What about family back at home? You can't have a life in one place then," Esposito asks in curiosity.

"You can make it work," JJ answers. "We have to be committed when we're out here in the field but I have a son back home, waiting for me. He's the reason I want all of our cases to be solved, so I can see him again," she adds.

Esposito nods in acknowledgement. Meanwhile, Ryan sitting next to him wonders why he was suddenly so interested with the FBI life. _Something has got to be up_, Ryan thought. All these while, it was like an unspoken thing that Beckett, Esposito and him had; _a dislike for the feds_. They always came and took control, leaving them unnecessary. They made the detectives feel like they were one class below them. As if the title 'Agent' made them feel superior. Thinking of the last time the feds came working on their case angered him. He is certainly not going to let that happen again this time.

Ryan heard a couple of people coming into the precinct. He looked up and saw Beckett, Castle, Morgan and Hotch walking in. With them was a young lad in custody. Beckett passed the lad to an officer to be brought into the interrogation room.

"Found our C. Smith at his apartment, I'm going in to question him," Beckett told the rest.

Morgan steps up and asks, "Detective, may I be present in the interrogation? I can profile him and may be able to tell if he's our killer."

"Sure… Of course," Beckett glances at Castle. _As if I couldn't tell if he's our killer_, Beckett thought to herself, hiding her annoyance. Castle _always_ interrogates the suspects with her.

Castle looked a little disappointed, "I think I'll sit this one out. I'll let the big boys handle this," Castle faked a smile and walks towards the viewing room with Hotch and Rossi. Beckett felt a little pity for him, or was it disappointment she felt? Disappointed that he wasn't there? She wasn't sure but pushed all that thoughts aside. She had to focus on the case, has to prove that she can handle this case without the feds.

* * *

***In the interrogation room***

Beckett took a seat across Connor. Morgan chose to lean against the door, listening in first. She took out a photo of the victim, Elliot and pushed it towards Connor, "Do you know him?" Beckett asks.

Connor took one look at the photo of a live and smiling Elliot, "Nope," he shook his head.

"Really? Are you sure?" Beckett eyes him.

"Yeah, don't know him," he shrugs.

Beckett took out another sheet of paper and starts to read off it, "Two DUI's and a shoplifting, that's quite a rap sheet."

"I did my time," Connor says defensively.

"So you want to pretty up that rap sheet with a murder now?" Beckett slams a photo of the dead body in front of Connor.

"MURDER? What? No way! A couple of DUI's and a shoplift, that's as far as it goes man!" Connor starts to panic.

"Then why did you lie to us?" Beckett raises her voice.

"Lie? What lie?"

Morgan who was quietly studying the suspect earlier, walks towards the table and slams his hands down in front of Connor, "Then explain how your name ends up in this guy's planner in his apartment!" Beckett showed a photo of the planner just as he said that.

Connor looked at the photo, seeing his name scrawled across yesterday's date. He starts to panic, his face all pale and lost for words. "Okay, okay, I admit that I know the guy but I didn't even know he's dead 'till you guys told me! You gotta believe me!" he finally spoke.

"How can we believe you when you just lied to our faces?" Beckett questions.

"Look, I'll tell you why my name is there but I did NOT kill him alright?" he said regaining more will to speak. "I won't even hurt that stray cat in front of the apartment," he added, hoping it might ease the mood but to no avail. Both detective and agent still does not look impressed.

* * *

***Meanwhile in the viewing room…***

"So she's your muse…" Rossi said, watching the interrogation. "I see why you picked her."

"Oh, she hates it when I call her a muse," Castle smiles, as if he were showing off his prized possession. "But yes, the character in the book is based on her."

"So how did you get her to let you follow her around?" Rossi asks. "I presume it wasn't all that easy to convince."

"Well…my good ties with the mayor certainly helped speed things up," Castle smiled cheekily.

"Mayor huh?" Rossi looked impressed. "That's one way to get things done."

"It sure is."

* * *

***Back in the interrogation room***

"Talk," Morgan ordered as he took a seat next to Beckett.

"Okay, I met the guy at the bar across my apartment. I was performing there one night and after my act, he came up to me and said that I was really good. He said he had this big project to start up a band. Gonna make it big and all, you know. So that got me really interested. He told me to meet him at 3 o'clock yesterday," Connor starts explaining.

"Did he show?" Morgan asks.

"No, waited about an hour and then I left. Thought he was fooling around about it."

"And that's it?" Morgan eyes him. Connor looks a little shifty and wasn't making eye contact.

"Connor, if you are not telling us something and we find out, I WILL arrest you on obstruction of justice. You don't want that in your rap sheet do you?" Beckett warns.

Connor looked down, deciding whether to speak or not. Finally he says, "Alright, when I was leaving the place I saw Elliot. He was across the road, talking to some…guy."

"Do you know this guy?" Beckett leans forward.

Connor hesitated to answer, "No."

"Can you describe him? What was he wearing?" Morgan pushes on.

"He was wearing… a dark blue baseball cap and a black jacket. I couldn't see his face. That's all I know." Connor said. "Am I free to go now?"

Beckett turns to Morgan. He nods and then Beckett said, "Don't go far."


	5. Chapter 5 : The Discussion

***At the precinct, murder board area***

Beckett and Morgan fill the others in on what they got out of the interrogation room. "He's hiding something. Not telling us something," Morgan said about Connor.

Prentiss and Reid joins them, "Autopsy found a needle mark on the victim's right arm. There's a possibility that he was poisoned. Waiting on the tox results," Prentiss informed the others.

"Poisoning isn't the same MO as the previous case we work on," Reid said.

"Could be a fan continuing Moore's works with his own twist?" Rossi suggests.

"Fans would try and copy their idol's works as perfect as possible. And there are cases where it is scarily similar," Reid disagrees.

"Could it be that our killer read about Moore's MO and decided to copy it to throw us off our guards. But since he doesn't know much, he did what he could to get it as similar as he possibly can. Hence the guitar on his head," Castle gave his theory.

"It is possible, but we need to confirm the cause of death first before jumping to ay conclusions," Beckett told Castle.

"Alright, what do we know of the unsub in the baseball cap?" Hotch asks.

"Can we call up that friend of yours with all the sources?" Esposito turns to Morgan and grins. Beckett shakes her head, she knows that Esposito just wants to avoid doing all the hard work of searching high and low for this guy.

Morgan chuckles and punched in the all familiar number he had memorized by hard on the telephone on the table.

"Garcia at your service, how can I help you?"

"Hey babygirl, you're on speaker. Could you pull up any surveillance around the bar at the vic's apartment at about 4 in the evening?" Morgan said.

"Of course, what am I looking for?" Garcia asks.

"We're looking for a white male with a dark blue baseball cap and black jacket," Morgan described.

"He was seen across the road from the bar," Beckett added.

"Ah, you must be Detective Kate Beckett," Garcia said cheerily. "Hello there, I've heard about you through Mister Castle's novels". Castle smirked at the sound of his name.

"Yes… how did you know it was me? By the way, the character of Nikki Heat is not fully me. It has plenty of Mister Castle's writing fantasy" Becks say with an emphasis on the word _Mister_, turning towards Castle.

"The only female voice I do not recognize. I don't suppose he is there?" Garcia said.

"Indeed, I am here, Miss Garcia" Castle smiles, he loves being acknowledged.

"Why, it is a pleasure to speak with you, Mister Castle. I must say I am a fan of your works," Garcia said.

"Thank you. The pleasure is mine and please, it's Rick," Castle said smugly.

"You're very welcome, Rick," Garcia said. "Oh! Looks like we got a hit on the surveillance cameras. I found your guy and I'm sending the clip over right now." Garcia hit the enter button with a purple furry pen she was holding and a video popped up on the laptop screen next to JJ. All ten heads huddled closer to watch the surveillance footage. The video showed the victim talking to the unsub in the dark blue baseball cap with his back facing the camera.

"Now if he would only turn around…" Castle said, breaking the silence. No more than two seconds after he had said that, the unsub took a quick glance over his shoulder as if to check whether anyone was watching him, revealing his face to the camera. "Bam said the lady! We have our unsub!" Castle shouted out loud, giving everyone a shock.

"Nice timing, bro," Esposito told Castle.

"Yeah, now get a printout of his face and see if anyone at the bar recognizes him, _bro_," Beckett said to Esposito, with an emphasis on the word _bro_. Prentiss, JJ and Morgan chuckled at their banter.

"Hold on a second," Reid said suddenly. "Could you zoom in right over here?" he said as he pointed to the unsub's right hand. Esposito typed in a few codes to zoom in the footage. "What do you see?" Prentiss asks. The screen now showed a blurry image of the unsub's right hand.

"Can you sharpen the image?" Reid adds. Esposito typed some more codes and the screen revealed an inked pattern on the right wrist of the unsub.

"Good eye, Doctor Reid," Castle complimented.

"With an impressive IQ to go with it too," Prentiss teases. "It's like having our very own Einstein," Prentiss tells Castle.

"Actually, comparing me to Albert Einstein would not be accurate, I find it rather degrading. Einstein had an IQ of 160 whereas I have an IQ of 187. I would be more on par with Leonardo da Vinci, who had an IQ of 180," Reid rants. The rest of them looked around in awkwardness.

"The tattoo, can we trace it?" Rossi asks, changing the subject.

"It looks like it's from a gang," Morgan adds.

"It is. And I know just where to find them," Beckett said, the rest of them all turning to her. "I came across this tattoo some time ago when I worked on a case involving their members. They call themselves the Red Spades, which is why their tattoos are in the shape of a spade."

"I've heard of them. They run underground casinos around town," Esposito added.

"Yes, I might be able to get an identification of this baseball cap guy," Beckett said. "I have a favour to collect," Beckett smiled.

"Red Spades. That's an appropriate name," Castle said. "This reminds me, I haven't had poker night with the other writers in awhile."

"What is it with writers and poker?" Prentiss asks. "Rossi here is another poker fan."

"Fan? No, I would say…extraordinaire," Rossi said. "Poker extraordinaire."

"Ah…Agent Rossi, then you have to come to our poker night while you're in town. Prove that status of yours," Castle smiled.

"Of course, it's been awhile since I last played a good game," Rossi said.

"I'll give Patterson, Connelly and Cannell a call then," Castle nods towards Rossi.

"Alright boys, enough with your poker games. We've got a killer to catch," Beckett said, breaking their poker joy. "Castle and I will go give Red Spades a visit. Espo, you and Ryan find out more about our vic at the bar."

"Beckett, our vic's sister is here. Eunice McCoy is his only next-of-kin left," Ryan said after hanging up on a call.

Beckett looked to Hotch. Hotch nodded and got the message that she needed someone to handle the next-of-kin. "JJ, you can handle the sister. Prentiss and Morgan will follow Detective Beckett. Reid, I want you and Rossi to find out more about this group and create a profile of our unsub," Hotch said authoritatively.

Beckett did not like the idea of asking the feds for help but she needed someone to handle the sister while the rest of her team are out on the field. _Just this one time, I'll let them take over something_, Beckett told herself.


	6. Chapter 6 : The Investigation Continues

***At a car repair shop***

Beckett, Castle, Morgan and Prentiss walk into the car repair shop with Beckett leading the way. As soon as they stepped into the compound, a few men around dropped what they're doing and follows them behind. Some of them picked up a rod as a precaution. Beckett approaches a man in soiled clothes with his head buried deep in the open front hood of a truck.

As Beckett neared, he gets up and turns around. Upon seeing Beckett, he says, "Detective, what brings you here?"

"Remember that favour you said you owe me?" Beckett said. "I'll take it now."

The man gave a nod to the men behind Beckett and the rest, and they backed off to continue what they were doing before. "Come this way, Detective," he said as he led them to a room which looked like an office.

"Daryl, this is Agents Prentiss and Morgan and Mr. Castle," Beckett introduced the rest. "We are investigating this case and it may involve some of your people."

Daryl scowled a little at the mention that one of his men were involved in some trouble. "Are you sure this person is one of my men?"

Beckett pulled out a photo of the tattooed man from the surveillance footage and handed it to Daryl. Daryl took a look at the photo and then looked down in disappointment. He looked back up at them and finally said, "Yes, he is one of ours,"

"Can you identify him please?" Morgan asked.

Daryl hesitated for a few seconds, deciding whether to tell them or not, and finally confessed, "Adam. Adam Burnham."

"What can you tell us about Adam?" Beckett asked.

"He goes around finding for clients of ours who are in debt," Daryl said. "He is one of our best. Gets the job done."

"Do you know where we can find him?" Prentiss pushed on. "An address?"

"I don't take notice of anything outside the business. What he does or where he lives doesn't interest me," Daryl said, looking at Prentiss. "However, I can tell you that he hasn't shown up here in the last two days. In fact, he is due on some debts."

"What about this man?" Morgan handed a photo of Elliot to Daryl. "Is he one of your 'clients'?"

"Our client list is very confidential, Agent," Daryl said to Morgan. Then he turned to Beckett and said, "But for you, Detective, this man isn't. I've never seen him before."

Castle squinted at what just happened. _Did he just give some extra information to Beckett but not to Morgan?_ Castle thought. _Well this is interesting…_ he smiled.

"That is all I know," Daryl nodded at the four of them.

"Alright, thank you for your time Daryl," Beckett said, turning to leave.

"Detective," Daryl said before they left. Beckett turned back at Daryl. "I believe that is _all_?" Daryl said, referring that the favour has been collected and that there would be nothing between them now.

"For now…" Beckett replied before turning to leave the room, with the others right behind her.

Right as they stepped out of the compound heading towards their car, Castle suddenly asked, "So what did you do for Daryl that he owes you a favour?" Morgan and Prentiss stopped to listen, interested in what Beckett has to say.

"I caught his father's killer. You were just talking to Donald Streyers' son," Beckett told them.

"THE Donald Streyers?" Morgan asked, in surprise.

"As in New York City's king of underground activities?" Castle said in shock, hands flying to his mouth.

"Yeah. It was an inside job. I saved Daryl's life and inheritance," Beckett smiled back.

"Wow! I didn't know you had underground connections too, _Detective_," Castle teased.

* * *

***At the bar***

It was in the afternoon when Esposito and Ryan arrived. They walked into the bar. Workers were seen cleaning glasses and arranging the place, the bar was not opened yet.

They walked up to the bartender and shows their badge, "NYPD, recognize him?" Esposito said as he showed a photo of Adam. The bartender took one quick glance and said, "Sorry, too many people in and out of here."

"You didn't even look properly," Esposito said with a stricter voice. The bartender looked at the photo again, longer this time. "Nope, can't help ya," he said before walking away to do some other stuff.

"Either he's hiding something, or he just hates cops," Ryan said after he left.

"We're NOT cops, we're detectives," Esposito said.

Ryan raises an eyebrow, wondering why he was so uptight about it. Usually he would just throw in another joke. "Why were you so interested in the feds earlier?" Ryan questions.

"Just wanted to know what kinda life they led," Esposito answered, avoiding any eye contact.

"Whose side are you on now?" Ryan said. "_We_ don't get along with the feds," referring 'we' as the three of them detectives.

"Yeah I know that," Esposito simply replied, still not looking at Ryan.

"Don't you go over to the dark side now 'cause if you are-,"

"It's nothing, bro. I'm just curious, you know," Esposito cuts him off, reassuring him.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Ryan said.

Just then, a waitress walks by and Esposito holds up the photo and asked if she knew him, ignoring what Ryan had said.

"Yeah, I recognize him," the waitress said. Ryan dropped the topic and was more interested in what she has to say. "He comes in here often. I see him almost every day, usually after six."

"Does he come in with anyone?" Esposito asked.

"No. He's always by himself. Unless he meets someone here," the waitress said. "Drop by later tonight and you might be able to find him."

"Okay, thanks," Esposito smiled at her before she leaves. Immediately, Esposito pulled out his phone and sped dialed Beckett, filling her in on where to find the unsub.

Then they left the bar and was walking towards their car. They were about to get into the car when Ryan suddenly said, "It's the girl, isn't it?"

"What?"

"On why you were so interested with the feds. What was her name? Agent…Prentiss, right?"

"What? NO!" Esposito said in a higher pitched voice. Ryan smiled and nodded before they got into the car.

* * *

***At the precinct***

Reid and Rossi were busy shuffling through files and records. They were reading through notes from the previous case of Tyler Moore's killings, the evidence results and information of the group, Red Spades. Reid, being a fast reader with 20,000 words per minute, had gone through almost three-quarters of what they have found out. Rossi knew he could not beat the boy genius at his game so he took his time to find any connections between these three. Then an officer from the precinct walked up to them and handed Reid a file. Reid read it fully in under a minute, "Toxicology report says our victim was poisoned with Strychnine. Injected via the right arm," he said, passing the file over to Rossi.

"Which means we are not looking for Moore's apprentice," Rossi said as he read the report.

"This also confirms that we are not looking for a fan of Moore's works too. The press release only stated that Moore kills his victims from a blunt force trauma to the head using a guitar," Reid said.

"So our unsub did that as a cover up?" Rossi suggests. "Castle's theory may just be right," he adds.

"Strychnine poisoning isn't very common. Our unsub would have to come across it some way before he knew what it is."

"Our unsub is in the field of medicine or studied medicine before then."

Reid gets up, walks toward their murder board and starts to write under the profile of the unsub, "We are looking for a male, 25 to 45 years of age, approximately 200 pounds and has a history in the medical field."

"And reads the news too," Rossi said jokingly.

* * *

***In the break room at the precinct***

JJ opens the door to let Eunice McCoy, the sister of the victim, inside. They both sit opposite each other with Eunice looking very distraught. It was obvious that she had been crying a lot. Her eyes were swollen and her make-up was messed up.

"Eunice, I'm Agent Jareau with the FBI and I'm very sorry for your lost," JJ introduces herself. "Thank you very much for coming in so quickly."

Eunice nodded and said, "Yeah, it's alright. What is the FBI doing with my brother's death?"

"We have reasons to believe that your brother's murder is similar to another case," JJ said.

"A serial killer is behind my brother's death?" Eunice asked in a little shock.

"It is not confirmed yet. But we were brought in to consult."

Eunice looked down in grief, "Why would anyone do this to Elliot?"

"That's what we are trying to find out."

"He was always the one to solve any problems we had as kids, you know," Eunice said. "In times like these, especially when our parents passed, he would be handling everything. Now that he's gone…I don't know what to do," she looks up to JJ.

"Don't worry, we will help you get through all the procedures," JJ said, comforting her. "But first, I need to ask you a few questions." Eunice nodded, allowing her to ask.

"Do you recognize this man?" JJ showed Eunice a photo of Adam.

"No, is he the killer?" Eunice shook her head.

"We don't know that yet, but he is a person of interest. How about any of Elliot's close friends here or girlfriend?"

"Elliot doesn't have many friends, but he did have a girlfriend."

"Do you know her name?"

"Yeah, her name is Joann Raikes. I met her once. Nice girl."

JJ wrote down her name, "Alright, thank you very much for your time," she said as she got up.

Eunice got up and said to JJ before they left, "Catch who did this please?"

"I will."


	7. Chapter 7 : The First Suspect

***At the bar, after six***

Beckett stood outside the bar getting ready to go undercover. She was fluffing up her hair and applying a coat of lipstick. Not far from her was Prentiss, doing the same. Ten minutes later, Prentiss went over to Beckett, "So what's the strategy?" Prentiss asks.

"Get his attention and go with the flow," Beckett smiled.

When night arrived, Beckett and Prentiss walked into the bar. Both were looking stunning and attracting attention from men around the bar. One had even wolf-whistled from the other side of the room as they made their way in. Beckett spotted Adam sitting at the bar countertop alone. _Nice_, Beckett thought. She looked over to Prentiss. Prentiss nodded. She had also spotted him. They both made their way towards Adam. There were two empty seats on the left of him, so they took it. Beckett took the seat right next to Adam and Prentiss next to her.

"What are you having?" Prentiss asked Beckett.

"Maybe a shot of vodka. What about you?" Beckett replied, her whole body facing Prentiss, as if to not notice Adam. On the other hand, Adam had noticed them and could overhear them talking too.

"Wow hardcore, you are," Prentiss teased. "Gin and tonic for me," Prentiss said before turning to call the bartender.

"Can I get you ladies a drink?" a voice said from the right of Beckett. _Gotcha!_ Prentiss thought to herself. Both ladies turn towards the voice.

"If you say so," Beckett smiled and told him. The bartender arrived and Beckett said, "Gin and tonic for her," pointing towards Prentiss, "and vodka for me." The bartender nodded. "Oh and it's on his tab," Beckett pointed to Adam.

Adam laughed a little, "You ladies sure can handle your drinks, I see."

"Oh that's not all we can handle," Beckett teased.

Adam smiled and said, "I'm sure it's not all. I'm Adam."

"You know, we are actually looking for an Adam here tonight," Prentiss said.

"Yeah, it's Adam Burnham. Know him?" Beckett said. Panic shot through Adam as soon as he heard his name. "By the way, I'm NYPD," Beckett introduced herself as she placed her badge on the table.

"And I'm FBI," Prentiss smiled, placing her badge on the table too.

Adam took one look at the badges on the table and turned around to his right to run. He took no more than two steps before he was stopped short. Morgan had stepped up from the crowd in front of Adam. Morgan folded his arms blocking the way with his shiny badge hanging on the left of his waist. Castle was by his side, putting on his most stern face. He did not have a badge to show but Morgan's was good enough.

Adam turned to another side with the bar counter to his back, preparing to run. Again, he was stopped short. Esposito and Ryan had turned up, badge in hand and cuffs in the other.

"Going somewhere?" Esposito smirked at Adam.

Adam took one more look around him, six people ready to go for him. In the end, he gave up and just slumped back down on the bar stool.

* * *

***In the interrogation room***

The door slams open and Beckett walks in with Prentiss close behind. Both women took their seats across their first suspect, Adam Burnham, the man with the tattoo who was seen talking to the victim before his death.

"Know him?" Beckett slides a photo of Elliot across the table to Adam.

"Nope," he said, looking very annoyed that he had been fooled by two very sexy women in disguise.

"You sure 'bout that?" Beckett asked. "Because here you are talking to him," she said as she shows the surveillance footage photo.

Adam looks at the photo, seeing himself talking to Elliot. He clears his throat, " It was…business."

"A business gone wrong then?" Prentiss asked. "Is that why you killed him?" she said, as he was shown a photo of Elliot's dead body.

"NO!" Adam said in alarm. "It wasn't me!"

"Alright, calm down!" Beckett said. "So you do know he dead?"

"I read the news," Adam said.

"Or…you killed him, that's why," Prentiss simply suggested.

"Hey! It's not me! I did not kill this man," Adam said, a little panic showing in his face.

"Then why did you try run?" Beckett asked.

"Don't like cops."

"I don't know…he seemed pretty interested in buying us drinks just now, don't you think?" Prentiss jokingly said to Beckett.

"Oh yeah, he did," Beckett answered, playing along.

"That was before I knew you both were cops!" Adam scowled. "Besides, I have an alibi. I was at the ATM at that time. You can check the surveillance."

"And we will," Prentiss said.

"You know, you better start talking about what you were doing with Elliot, or we will hand you over to the narcotics department," Beckett threatens.

"Says here you're also wanted for at least five drugs cases too," Prentiss says as she read off the rap sheet.

"And let me tell you, narcotics aren't as gentle as we are," Beckett winked at him.

Adam thought for a couple of seconds. "Okay, okay. I'll talk," he finally said, not wanting to be sent over to narcotics. "Elliot came to me, asking for a job. A one and done job. Said he needed the money fast."

"Then what did you do?" Prentiss asked.

"I said I didn't need any help. Told him to go look for some money lender if he wanted money fast," he said. "But he said he didn't want to owe anyone.

"Did he say why he needed the money?" Beckett asked.

"He said he wanted to settle some stuff and disappear with his girlfriend for awhile. No trail."

"Girlfriend?" Prentiss asked. "Do you know who?"

"Don't know." He shrugs. "Look, that's all I know. You should ask her instead. I bet there's something going on there."

"Why is that?" Beckett asked.

"He seemed very protective over her. The way he talks."

"Alright," Beckett said as she collected all the photos back. Both women get up to leave.

"Am I free to go now?" Adam asks.

Beckett opens the door and told the officer standing outside, "Bring him over to narcotics please?" The officer nods and proceeded to cuff Adam.

"HEY! HEY!" Adam shouted over to both Beckett and Prentiss. "I told you what I knew! You said that if I talked-"

Beckett turned around and said, "I didn't say I wouldn't." She turned back and walked out of the room with Prentiss.

* * *

Beckett and Prentiss join the rest of the team and filled them in on what they had found from Adam, including the possible victim's girlfriend.

"He's not lying," JJ said as she hands Beckett a file. "Girlfriend is Joann Raikes. Vic's sister confirmed it."

"Do we have an address?" Beckett asks.

"Yeah. Got it right here," Esposito said.

"Alright then. Bring her in tomorrow morning," Beckett said. "It's late. We'll pick up in the morning," she tells everyone. The rest of them nodded in agreement, it was late. Ryan was seen yawning while Castle could barely keep his eyes open.

"Long day today," Castle said to Beckett as he walks her to the elevator.

"Yeah and it's gonna be another long one tomorrow," Beckett told him, as the elevator door closes.

* * *

**A/N : Reviews are very much appreciated. I would like to hear from you on what you think of the story. =)**


	8. Chapter 8 : The Profiling

***Next morning, At the precinct***

Beckett was already seated at her desk when Castle walks towards her from the elevator. It seems that he was the last one in, this morning. The whole BAU team was already at another desk, reading through stacks of files placed around. Just then, Esposito and Ryan walk in with a woman looking around shyly. _Everyone's early today…_, Castle wondered to himself.

Castle placed Beckett's coffee on her desk in front of her as he took a sip of his own. "Thanks," Beckett said as she gave a sweet smile of hers.

"We got our vic's girlfriend in the break room," Esposito told Beckett.

"Alright, why don't you guys help the BAU find any connections with the evidences?" Beckett said to Esposito and Ryan. "Come on, Castle."

"I get in on this one?" Castle said, eyes lighting up with a glee. He looked like a child that had just been given a big, round lollipop and a free trip to Disneyland.

"Yes, the profilers are busy profiling," Beckett smiled at his reaction as she heads towards the break room. Castle quickly gets up and trails behind her.

* * *

Beckett opens the door to the break room and sees Joann Raikes, the victim's girlfriend, looking very agitated.

"Joann Raikes, I'm Detective Beckett, I'm very sorry for your lost," Beckett said as she took a seat opposite Joann, with Castle sitting next to her.

"Thank you," Joann said softly. Beckett was concerned for her, she could tell there was something that was bothering Joann.

"Joann, I know it isn't the best time but I have to ask a few questions about Elliot," Beckett said, feeling a pang of guilt although she had done this numerous times before. Joann flinched at the sound of her lover's name, her eyes were already watering. She collected herself, sniffed and said, "Sure. Anything that will help catch his killer."

"When was the last time you saw him?" Beckett asked.

"Yesterday morning, before he left the apartment. He left before I woke up but I saw him leaving," Joann said.

"Where was he going?"

"The night before, he said he was going to get a job. We're a little tight on money right now," Joann recollected her memory. "Who knew that would be the last time I'd talk to him…" she trailed off.

"Do you know anyone who would hurt him? Anyone that didn't like him?" Castle asked.

Joann looked down and didn't say anything for awhile, as if her thoughts drifted away. Beckett knew she knows something that she doesn't want to tell. She looked over to Castle, he knew something was up too.

"Joann?" Beckett called out softly.

"Yeah?" Joann came back to reality.

"Joann, if there's something going on, you have to tell me," Beckett tried. "We can help you."

Joann hesitated t first but she finally gave in, "That job that Elliot was going to look for? We needed the money to get away from here. We were going to disappear for awhile."

"Who are you running away from?" Beckett asked.

"My…" she said, undecided whether to tell them. "…family," she finally said.

Both Beckett and Castle looked a little confused.

"My whole family doesn't approve of Elliot," she explained. "They say that he's just a broke guy with a guitar. That he won't be able to support me and give me the life that I want," she said as tears rolled down her face.

Castle handed her a tissue. "But Elliot's all I need in my life…" she said, wiping the tears away.

"I come from a wealthy family. We have money and all but since I've decided to be with Elliot, my family has cut me off financially. Which is why we needed the money."

"So could it be that they…" Beckett asked.

"Maybe. I don't know," Joann said. "But if they did, I don't think I'll be able to forgive them," Joann said.

* * *

Beckett thanks Joann for coming in and sends an officer to escort her out as she and Castle joins the rest of both teams who were busy discussing the case.

"Detective, good timing. We were just building a profile for the unsub," Prentiss said as Beckett approaches them.

"What do we have?" Beckett asked, preferring to stand while Castle pulled up a chair to sit.

"We know that our unsub is definitely male, about 25 to 45 years, approximately 200 pounds and has a history in the field of medicine," Reid said fluently, without referring to the murder board at all. It was like he had all the details memorized, which he probably had.

"The needle mark found on the vic's right arm is because he was poisoned with Strychnine," Esposito explained.

"And you gotta be involved in the medical field to actually know that Strychnine even exist. It isn't all that common," Ryan chipped in.

"Unless you're Reid," Prentiss joked. Reid looked up from a file he was reading, wondering why his name was mentioned while the others laughed. "What?" Reid asked.

"Never mind, kiddo. Keep reading," Morgan said to Reid and he proceeds to do so.

"Alright, so which of our suspects fits the profile?" Hotch asked, bringing them back to the case.

"The only person that fits the profile is Adam Burnham," Morgan said.

"But his alibi checks out," Rossi said as he pulled out a surveillance photo grab from an ATM camera for everyone to see.

"I just talked to the victim's girlfriend, Joann Raikes. She said that her family doesn't approve Elliot at all. In fact, Joann has been cut off by her family because of Elliot. We should check them out," Beckett said.

"Did you say Raikes?" Reid suddenly asked.

"Yeah…" Beckett said.

Reid started rummaging through the papers on the desk and pulled out a file. "There was a police report filed by Elliot. He said he was assaulted by a Kyle Raikes three months ago," he said as he handed Beckett the police report.

"Is Kyle the father?" Prentiss asked.

Esposito did a quick search on his computer. "Nope, Kyle is her brother. Her father is Michael Raikes," Esposito answered her.

"So the Raikes family has a very strong motive," Castle said. "But what can we tie them to?"

"They are rich, so expect them to lawyer up. We need something solid to bring him for questioning," Beckett said.

"Yo I got something here," Esposito said out suddenly, as he reads from his computer. "Guess who used to study medicine?" he said as he turned around to face all of them.

"Kyle?" Prentiss tried. Esposito nodded.

"Bring him in," Beckett smiled.

* * *

***Interrogation room***

"You must be very happy, Kyle," Beckett said, as she sat across Kyle Raikes, their current suspect.

"I'm happy all the time," Kyle replied with a smug look on his face. "And last I checked, being happy isn't a crime."

"How does this relate to why we were brought here?" a man in his mid-forties, sitting next to Kyle, asked.

"Your son was brought here for questioning on the Elliot McCoy murder," Morgan told the man.

The man, Michael Raikes, who is Kyle and Joann's father, leaned forward and said, "And why would he be happy?"

"Because it seems that you don't like Elliot very much," Beckett said. "A police report states that you assaulted him at a bar three months ago."

"Those charges were dropped!" Kyle immediately said.

"And I wonder why…" Beckett gave a sly smile. Kyle quickly regretted saying that.

"Do not say another word, Kyle," his father warned, looking very displeased at the way his son was being treated.

"Says here you used to study medicine at university," Morgan read off a document.

"So?" Kyle said.

"I said-," Michael warned again but was cut off by Morgan.

"So you used Strychnine to poison Elliot!" Morgan said, approaching Kyle.

"You see, Strychnine isn't very common. You wouldn't have known of it unless you were in the medical field," Beckett explained. "And with you studying medicine before puts you in a very difficult position."

Kyle, who looked very confident before, started to look a little afraid and leaned back on his chair. He looked over to his father, who was giving him a stern look as if to say, _I told you to keep your mouth shut_. Then his father turned to Beckett, "And what evidence do you have to support that? There are hundreds of people out there in the medical field. Any one of them would know of Strychnine," he taunted.

Meanwhile, behind the glass in the viewing room, Castle who was watching the interrogation found something peculiar. _Looks like Kyle isn't the only one who knows about Strychnine_, Castle thought to himself. _He pronounced it correctly after only hearing the word twice in the room. Even I couldn't say it right the first time_.

"Well maybe a warrant to search Kyle's apartment would certainly help," Beckett pushed on.

"With you being a person of interest, it would be easier if you just told us what happened," Morgan told Kyle. "We could put in a good word with the jury to help with the sentence."

Kyle was scared to speak this time and turned to his father. Michael saw his son pleading through his eyes to help him. "Is my son under arrest?" Michael asked both Morgan and Beckett.

Both detective and agent did not say a word or react to Michael's question. They just didn't want to admit that they don't have anything that can hold Kyle Raikes any longer or put him under arrest.

"Well then, we are leaving," Michael said as he got up from his seat. Kyle quickly gets up to follow his father. The father and son left the room, leaving Beckett and Morgan. Beckett looked angry but helpless. _So close, if only there was one evidence we could tie him to_, she thought. She looked over to Morgan who was in a similar state. He was very annoyed too. She felt for him. She learnt that Morgan was the one who personally caught the killer in the previous case with the similar MO. Then here's another one still out on the loose and he may have just walked out of the room.

"You think he's our guy?" Beckett asked.

"He did panic and was anxious to get out of here," Morgan replied. "He's still our only suspect."

"If only we could tie him to something and get him back here," Beckett said as she got up to leave the room.

* * *

**A/N : So what do you think? Is Kyle the unsub? Think he's hiding something? **


	9. Chapter 9 : The Breakthrough

***Precinct***

The team was at the tables. Reid, Rossi and JJ going through files to see if they have miss anything while Prentiss, Esposito and Ryan sat around staring at the murder board silently hoping that the marker inks would whisper a lead in the case.

Beckett and Morgan walked in from the interrogation room with Castle following closely.

"We don't have anything on Kyle. Didn't want to talk after we told him why we brought him in," Beckett said to the rest.

"So we're back to square one?" Prentiss asked.

"Seems that way," Morgan said, folding his arms. He really wanted to get this killer.

"There isn't much luck here either," Esposito said.

"We finally have a good suspect and we can't get anything on him," Beckett said as she took a seat at her table.

"There's gotta be something we're missing here," Ryan said, still staring at the murder board. "Something we're not seeing."

"We had motive and evidence. Enough to arrest our unsub," Prentiss said. "But with two different people. Kyle and Adam."

"Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way," Castle finally spoke up. "Who else has a history in medicine in the family?" he asked.

Morgan sped dialed Garcia. "Garcia at your service, which crazy killer are we hunting down now?" Garcia's cheery voice filled the room from the loudspeaker of the telephone on the table.

"Garcia, it's Castle. Could you please check who else in Kyle Raikes family has a history in the medical field?" Castle asked.

"Well, of course, Mr. Castle. Give me a sec," Garcia said as she types away with such speed that only she can do. "And here we go, the Raikes family have a long line of doctors of all sorts. The grandfather, Paul Raikes was a surgeon and father, Michael Raikes is a pharmacist. Then we have Kyle who studied medicine in university but dropped out last year."

"I thought so…," Castle said. "Thank you, Garcia!"

"Anytime, my crime fighters!" she said as she clicks off the line.

"Thought so what, Castle?" Beckett asked.

"Michael, the father wasn't very surprised when you and Morgan questioned Kyle of Elliot's murder. It was like he knew about how Elliot was killed," Castle explained.

"So you think Michael Raikes is behind Elliot's murder?" Morgan asked.

"I know that he's somewhat involved in this. He also manage to say Strychnine right the first time," Castle said. "Took me a couple of times to get it right."

"Yeah, me too," Esposito nodded. A couple others nodded and agreed.

"I got it right the first," Reid said amidst everyone else agreeing with Castle.

"Reid, which word can't you get right?" Prentiss said jokingly.

"Actually, there are many words which I did not pronounce correctly. There's—"Reid goes on to rant but was cut short.

"Yeah, I take that question back…" Prentiss said, prompting Esposito, Ryan and a few others to chuckle. She tends to forget that Reid's sense of humour and sarcasm is limited.

"Alright, so what do we have on the father?" Hotch asked, bringing the team back to focus on the case yet again.

"We could get a search warrant for his house," Morgan said.

"And his car too," Beckett added. "Ryan and Espo, get those warrants from the judge."

"Prentiss and Morgan, get Michael back in here for interrogation," Hotch ordered. They nodded and got up to do as they were told.

* * *

***Interrogation room***

Michael and Kyle Raikes were seated across Beckett. Morgan still preferred to stand. Michael looked more annoyed than ever to be sitting here again and his son is more confused than scared this time. He chose to stare at the table, racking his brain on why he is back here again.

"You guys better have a good explanation to why my son is brought back here again or I will be filing a complaint on harassment!," Michael finally broke the silence, sounding very angry.

"Actually, it is you that we're more interested in now," Beckett answered.

Michael cringed at what he had just heard. "Excuse me?"

"You said earlier that there are hundreds out there in the medical field who would know of this poison," Morgan said. "But you failed to tell us that you were one of those hundreds."

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Michael face. He immediately wiped it with his sleeve.

"Which means that you would know of Strychnine and its deadliness in a human body," Beckett added.

"Dad…?" Kyle turned to his father.

"Quiet!" he ordered his son. "I'm not saying another word until my lawyer is here," Michael said to both Beckett and Morgan.

"Which only proves you have something to hide," Beckett said.

Michael leaned against his chair and decided not to speak any further.

"You can listen to us instead," Morgan said. "We searched your place. Found this," he said as he placed an evidence bag on the table. Inside, was an empty syringe.

"We found this used syringe which tested positive for Strychnine in your dumpster." Beckett added.

Michael frowned when he saw the syringe.

"Forgot when the garbage man comes?" Beckett said sarcastically. Michael still did not want to say anything.

"Then we found this," Morgan said as he placed another evidence bag on the table containing a half-empty bottle with a Strychnine label across it. "in your car."

Michael eyes widen when he saw the bottle, knowing there was no way he could talk his way out of this.

"You could wait for your lawyer or you could talk and we'll put in a good word for you at your trial," Beckett offered.

Michael stared at the table, deciding whether to speak or not. Finally he said, "He was going to elope with my daughter. I had to do something!" trying to defend what was left of him.

"And that something meant killing Elliot?" Beckett asked.

"It is bad enough that I don't like that guy. Now he's going to steal my daughter away from me? I wasn't going to let that happen."

"Your daughter loved him. Now that you've murdered him, you think you still have your daughter?" Morgan said in disgust.

"What about the guitar smashed on his head?" Beckett asked, focusing back on the case.

"I read an article before on some serial killer who does that. After I injected him, I saw a guitar at his place and thought it would lead you guys somewhere else."

"So you just decided to hit a dead guy on his head with a guitar?" Morgan said loudly and angrily.

"Look, I know that what I did wasn't good but I had no other choice!"

Morgan shook his head, "There's always another choice. You just chose to ignore that. You were just too wrapped up in your own world."

The whole time Michael was confessing, Kyle was too stunned to say anything. "Dad…" he finally said. Michael turned to his son. "You said you were just going over there to talk him out of running away. Take his flight tickets and all but… you killed him…"

"Kyle, I… I had to…," Michael tried to explain. "He was going to take away your sister. I was going to lose MY daughter…"

"I hated him too, but not to the extent of killing him…" Kyle said, finding it hard to take it all in. "I looked up to you, dad."

"I had to do something…I'm sorry, Kyle," Michael said to his son, eyes watering.

"Now we have something to do," Morgan said as he pulled Michael up from his chair and cuffed him. Michael was still apologizing to his son. "Michael Raikes, you are under arrest for the murder of Elliot McCoy. You have the right to remain silent…" Morgan said as he went on to read the Miranda rights to Michael.

* * *

**A/N : Did you see that coming? Good way to end it? Let me know! =)**


	10. Chapter 10 : The Goodbye

***Precinct***

Beckett walks back into the precinct after handing Michael Raikes over to the lockup. They finally caught the guy. One more case solved. One more killer off the streets. It has been a tough few days as they weren't sure before if they were facing a serial killer. Now she was happy the case was closed, but she felt a little sad seeing the BAU team packing up their things. Working with them was different, a good kind of different like it was so easy. More people did speed things up, especially Garcia who had all the information in the world just a click away. She saw Castle, Esposito and Ryan saying their goodbyes to team and decided to join them, but first she had something to do.

"Agent Hotchner," she said as she approached Hotch who was finishing up some paperwork in the break room. The only BAU member that wasn't with the others.

"Detective," Hotch acknowledged Beckett.

"Thank you very much for helping us with the case," Beckett said, lifting her hand out for a shake.

Hotch shook her hand, "You're welcome, Detective. It's a pleasure working with you and your team," he smiled.

"Pleasure's all mine," Beckett said. "And I'm sorry if I was a little… hostile towards you at the crime scene."

"It's no problem. I understand what it's like to be in your situation. We are only here to assist."

"And your assistance was very helpful. You and your team are certainly welcomed back if you happen to be in the city."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

Beckett walked back out to join the rest, thanking each and everyone else in the team.

"Thank very much for your help Agent Prentiss," Beckett said to Prentiss.

"No, thank you, Detective. It was nice working undercover with you," Prentiss replied. "And please, it's Emily."

"Kate," Beckett nodded. "We should do that sometime. Hit the bar," Beckett joked. "Catch more men who don't aren't interested in cops."

"I'm up for it," Prentiss laughed. "I'll be back in New York soon enough."

Not far away, Castle was seen talking to Rossi, arranging their writers' poker night meeting.

Then it was time for the BAU team to board their flight back to Quantico. Beckett and her team gave one final wave and the precinct was quiet again, having six people lesser now.

"So did you make your move?" Ryan asked Esposito after Castle and Beckett had left the precinct.

"Nope," Esposito replied.

"Why not?"

"She's a fed yo. I don't dig feds."

"Welcome back, bro," Ryan said giving a 'bro slap' on Esposito's back.

Esposito sighed, "She is hot though…"

* * *

**A/N : That's it! I'm down with this story. Case is closed, unsub is behind bars and the BAU team goes home. Do leave a review on what you think about the story overall. Anything I can improve for my next story? Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it.**


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